According to the 2000 Report of the Bureau of the Census, there are 88 Million Americans over the age of twenty without a spouse. By some estimates, as many as 30 Million of these singles are actively looking for mates. Market research of singles in the age group between 20 and 55 returns a unanimous result: all were interested in finding a romantic relationship. The only question was how.
Matchmaking services abound, ranging from individual matchmakers to personal ads and on-line dating. On-line dating has quickly become popular because of its convenience and efficiency: subscribers can quickly scan hundreds of potential mates from the comfort of home. But the fact is that on-line matchmaking is not particularly effective. One of the main reasons for the low success rate is that on-line “dating” fails to account for a basic fact about human nature: physical attraction is the sine qua non of a romantic relationship. The psychologists who have studied dating and matchmaking confirm that the physical attraction must come first; all else is secondary. A month of e-mailing through an on-line dating service is all for naught if there is no spark during the first real-life meeting.
The better paradigm is meet first, then decide. That is why “singles' events” remain popular. But they are also inconvenient and time-consuming. What singles need is an easy way to find out that another person in the neighborhood is looking for someone just like them, or that another person across the street is just what they are looking for.
Last year nearly 110 Million people in the U.S. used a cell phone. Wireless phones have become a staple of American life. Americans still use their cell phones largely for voice transmission, but the phones are capable of various modes of data transmission that offer valuable additional functionality.
One of these modes is Bluetooth. Bluetooth is an open specification that enables short-range, unregulated radio frequency spread spectrum wireless connections between Bluetooth-enabled devices such as desktop and laptop computers, personal digital assistants, cell phones, printers and scanners, and others. It operates in the 2.4 GHz Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) band with a range of either 10 or 100 meters, though the Bluetooth chips utilized in devices for the consumer market today typically have the lower range of 10 meters. It supports up to 8 devices in a piconet, has built-in security, non line-of-sight transmission, and is omni-directional.
Bluetooth-enabled consumer devices are becoming relatively common. The newest generation of cellular phones, such as the Sony Ericsson T-68, are equipped with Bluetooth chips. Motorola also sells Bluetooth cell phones. IBM's ThinkPad laptops are Bluetooth-enabled, as are Hewlett Packard's updated printers and Pocket PC handhelds. Palm, Inc. offers its latest organizer, Tungsten, with built-in Bluetooth. Microsoft has adopted Bluetooth software; it released to computer manufacturers an update that adds Bluetooth support to its Windows XP. It also markets wireless Bluetooth keyboards and mice. Apple Computer preceded Microsoft in adding Bluetooth technology to its operating system. Based on “Microsoft's muscle” and the power of these other major players in the consumer market, it is estimated that shipments of Bluetooth-enabled devices will total 48 Million this year, and that number may climb to 1.4 Billion by 2005.
There is a need for a method and apparatus whereby a user of a mobile device equipped with Bluetooth can be made aware of the proximity of another individual searching for a match.
(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wireless communications. More particularly, the present invention pertains to a method and apparatus for effecting a detection of selected proximate mobile devices using short-range radio frequency communications and/or geo positioning systems, which selection is based on the comparison and evaluation of a pre-determined data sets, or profiles, associated with the persons transporting the mobile devices which data sets, or profiles, are stored and maintained in a separate central database. The invention disclosed is also a method and apparatus for effecting information exchange between mobile devices thus detected.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Existing methods of mobile matchmaking use proprietary technology platforms running on cellular phones which platforms utilize data supplied by wireless carriers to determine the approximate location of the phones. None of the existing technology platforms has the capacity to detect only those matches that are within a 10-meter sphere. Instead, their specificity is generally within a cell tower coverage area, which ranges in size from several miles to several city blocks.
The invention disclosed has the advantage of detecting matches only when they are within eyesight of each others, thus enabling the potential mates to determine immediately whether or not they are physically attracted to each other.
The invention disclosed has a further advantage over existing methods in that it does not depend upon location information provided by wireless carriers.